NATIVE AFFAIRS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1502, 28 August 1880, Page 23

NATIVE AFFAIRS.

(PEOM OTJE OWN OORBESPONDBNT.) ! , Wellinoton, August 19th. The New Zealand Times' correspondent telegraphs from Pungarehu Camp to-day :— " Te Whiti has determined to send four men per day to prison' until the whole have been arrested, -and should the Constabulary object to arrest them 14 will be sent next day, and in the event of thene being rejected 50 will be sent the day after.' The men are chosen by Te Whiti and Tohu— two by the former in his ' whare, and two by the latter in his. At first bo' many volunteered > that the chiefs had to adopt the selection, , system. Te Whiti made a very good speech, of which the following wUI give, some idea of his tone. He said ; "All the ends' I have stirred up shall 'yet be made clear. Neither of the two races know how I shall finish my work. Taking men to prison, is not;KO.od work, when they are taken, f or This quarrel shall not be left f6r another year to finish : it shall be finished ■ this ' year. ' There is • a • door to. every house, and an opening to every net, but ithere. is no opening and no fence to my pah. There .shall be no Land Court to adjudicate on my land, and it matters not who shall totf to' settle the difficulty without 1 me— thfey will 'not succeed. They are wrong who, think that it is the appointment of a Minister that can Bettle it. This is an entirely new thing, and those who are wise in other things are ignorant " in this. All I have to say this day is, Come and dwell with me, you men of 'many 1 tribes, and every tribe from the four quartern of the land, for the back of the difficulty is broken. Mine enemy will never know what I am aiming at till he cornea to me.", The refusal of the constables to receive prisoners, and their return, excited fresh confidence ia Te Whiti. He said in his speech. that he was sending his men to prison as the best guarantee of his good and peaceful intentions. (Per Pbes3 Association Special Wire.) ( , New Plymouth,' August 19fch. Mr E. Graham, of Auckland, accompanied Marsh Porangi Katoha on a visit to Parihaka on Tuesday, returning to town last night. When they arrived at Parihaka Tohu had finished bis speech. Graham was invited to Te Whiti's whare, and was introduced to the prophet. Graham said (addressing Te Whiti) : " You saved many lives at the wreck of the Lord Worsley. I was one of the passengers whom you saved," Te Whiti «4£ rYes,r Yes, % recognise

you." Graham said: "Show me your right hand, that I may be satisfied of yon.' Graham and the prophet then shook hands. Graham continued: "You are called Te Whiti now, but I knew you in the old days as Eretu"; adding, "You were then friendly to the Europeans — how is it now you are causing all this trouble with the Pakehas?" Te Whiti made no reply. After some further remarks on minor eubjects, Graham retired to hia wh'are. Shortly afterwards he was visited by Patare, and a conversation was entered into. Mr Graham asked Patare why Te Whiti was causing trouble. Patare replied, "It will all come right. , We shall continue fencing ; nrst men will sro, and when they are all taken women will take their places, and when they, too, are mad© prisoners daw"" w«i go to the fences. After that Te Whiti and Tohu will go themselves to fence, and will be taken prisoners." Patare also compared the Government to Satan, and said their works were the works of Satan. He awd. Do yon think if we intended to fight we would allow all our fightiDg men to be taken away ? We have no intention of fighting." Mr Graham also conversed witn other Natives, and they were all confident that Te' Whiti would bring them out of all trouble. They were determined to abide by the counsels of the prophet to the end. Having seen the principal chiefs at Parihaka and obtained a clear insight into their feelings, Mr Graham took his leave' and returned to town. He left for Onehunga in the Eangatira at 5.30 ■to-night;

A telegram fdated Hawera, August 21afc, states that it is reported that Rana, one of the ■Opunake Natives, went to the Parihaka meeting. Te Whiti, hearing that he knocked down i fences on his journey, ordered him to go down and put them up again. Raha refused, telling Te Whiti he did not care about' being sent to Danedin Gaol, and that he preferred living with his wife. Te Whiti asked where his wife was. Eana replied, '.'ln Hawera, selling land." This made Te Whiti angry, and he said, "Do you, not know your wife is doing wrong? Tell her to come to Parihaka." Eana declined to put up fences, and declined to send his wife to Parihaka.